Alpha Centaurus or Alpha Centauri?

[Geoff45 (Geoff)]

The traditional way of designating stars in a constellation (Centaurus, say) has been to use the genitive case, so we get alpha centauri, which means "alpha of centaurus". However, these days we often see alpha centaurus, delta orion (instead of delta orionis), etc. Should we stick to tradition, change the system or don't worry about it?
Geoff

[davidpretorius]

OR Alpha Centariuses

[bojan]

This is about the basic latin grammar... "Centauri" is Genitive case.
I see no reason to try and invent a new grammar, Old Romans did a good job already

[leon]

I quite agree just leave it.

Leon

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

The main problem I see is the pronunciation of the ending of many of the names, ie. Centaur "ee" vs Centaur "eye". Some lend themselves to the "ee" sound whilst others sound better with the "eye" sound. Unfortunately, no others come to mind at the moment

Otherwise, I like it the way it is. Any books or magazines that just use the constellation name are....well....wrong. Why don't they say "Alpha Centaur" and be even wronger

[citivolus (Ric)]

Then there is the genitive form of Octans. I think about 1 in 10 people probably would get it right if asked.

[syzygy]

Originally Posted by citivolus

Then there is the genitive form of Octans. I think about 1 in 10 people probably would get it right if asked.

Not to mention Fornax.

[Geoff45 (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by citivolus

Then there is the genitive form of Octans. I think about 1 in 10 people probably would get it right if asked.

Octantis---I guess that stuffs the other nine.

[ngcles]

Hi All,

(Through gritted teeth) There is no contest here -- genitives rule without question. Besides it has been written in stone by the IAU way back in 1929.

Another one along the same lines as the constellation genitives that makes me cringe in disgust is "nebulas" being used/written as the plural of nebula. It is prevalent in many (not all) US publications. The proper plural is nebulae. Grrrrr ...

Don't start me on Newton/Newtonian Cassegrain/Cassegrainian!!

Without cheating by looking it up, do you know the very trickiest of the constellation genitives -- Puppis?

Best,

Les D
Contributing Editor
AS&T

[Rodstar (Rod)]

Originally Posted by OneOfOne

The main problem I see is the pronunciation of the ending of many of the names, ie. Centaur "ee" vs Centaur "eye". Some lend themselves to the "ee" sound whilst others sound better with the "eye" sound.

As a former student of Latin, I can confidently advise that it should be pronounced, "ee".

[citivolus (Ric)]

Originally Posted by ngcles

Without cheating by looking it up, do you know the very trickiest of the constellation genitives -- Puppis?

I admit to cheating, but it was amusing

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by Rodstar

As a former student of Latin, I can confidently advise that it should be pronounced, "ee".

Whew....